Device for the forming of tobacco rods in cigarette machines



Feb. 29, 1944. P. J. HERRMANN DEVICE FOR THE FORMING 0F TOBACCO RODS INCIGARETTE MACHINES 2 Sheets-Shut 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1939 QNVflNTOL mun-s.Ham mm wv'ronuev- Feb. 29', 1944. 2,342,803

DEVICE FOR THE FORMING OF TOBACCO RODS IN CIGARETTE MACHINES P. J.HERRMANN 2 Sheeis-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4. 1939 amen-Yon 9km, Q-Hkk MANN L)3:, 41gb wvro aw.

Patented Feb. 29, 1944 DEVICE For; THE FORMING QFw TOBACCO RODS INCIGARETTE MACHINES Paul Johannes Herrmann, Dresden, Germany; vested inthe Alien Property Custodian Application February 4, 1939, serial No.254,576 In Germany February 7, 1938 2 (llailms- The invention relates toa device forthe forming of a tobacco'rod for rod'ci'garette machines, inwhich the tobacco rod is formed in a roove provided in the periphery ofa. wheel rotating" in" a vertical plane over art of which a tobaccoenclosing belt is placed.

The tobacco rod which is formed in thegroove is conveyed by way of abridge into the wellknown shaper', in which it is provided with thetissue'paper covering.

The transposition of the tobacco rod to the bridge has been accompaniedwith dimfculti'es, and one of the objects of this invention isto'pldvidemeans to overcome thes'ame.

For this purpose, the invention consists'of means cooperating with thetobacco roof as it leaves the groove of the wheel and enters upon thebridge, enabling the removal" of the beltfrom the bridge, and its facilereplacement over the bridge.

The invention has further for'its object to separate from the belt as itpasses over the bridge any adhering tobacco; and for this purpose" theinvention consists in means cooperating with the belt to separateadhering tobacco therefrom-and discharge it to the bridge so as toenable it to form part of the tobacco rod as itis beingen'- veloped bythe paper. I

The invention willbe' more-fully dc'scribedhereinafter, shown in theembodiments illustrated in the drawings, and will be finally pointedOutin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a general side view, partially in vertical cross section,thedr'awingshowing a broken off portion, as the structure of that partof the machineforms no part of theinvention';

Figure 2 isa vertical cross sectiontaken on line II-II of Figure 1, seenin the direction of the arrow applied to "line II-II;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the parts between the compressionwheel and the rod former showing the arrangement of thebelt, thereversal pulley, the scraping device, the bridge between the former andwheel for translation" of the tobacco rod and the tobaccorodpapersupply'.

Figure 4 is a partial plan view of the tobacco rod as it leaves thegroove of the wheel and of the bridge;

Figures 5 and 6 are vertical sections taken along the lines V-V' andVI-NI of Figure .3, seen in the direction of the arrows applied to saidlines; and

Figure '7 is a front view oil-the laridgashowri in Figure 4, with thebelt" roller applied. thereto.

Referring to the drawings, and more particumay to Figure 1, thestructure there" shown is known, and will not bcdescrib'ed in detail;eX- v oeptas such old parts are" necessary tO'P'O Iit' out theimprovement The c ga et r to acco r d CQn eY b t' 2 paper .24" andformer 22a" a'ct in a manner well known, The wh l 14 h s peri hera p o d[5 to form the rod by means of the'belt 5, which extends over thejwhe il4" about n half of its circumference; The return or the belt 5' is Overpulley rollers I and i d h n over a ro ler As known, the to acco is fediv th'e m l, shown Figu e whi h passes r he rollr and the tobacco dropsinto a vertical and conical channel 3'. The tobacco discharges upon a;U- shaped portion 4 Of the belt 5, this for'rjn' being given to the be tby i s passage through" t channel, shaped support 6". The tobacco inthis U-shaped v,form of the belt is conveyed to the wheel M, where thetobacco entersthe giQov'efllS, and the belt flattens itself against thewheel M.

The improvement consists in the de'ViCE provided for moving the uppemost end of t e elt whre'itiis' b 'nt bai upon-i elf over the roller l6,out: of the P'a'th of the bridge 20, to enable access to be had thereto,and in the adjustment of ftlie belt at itsloviermost end where it alsodoubles upon itself when passing over the roller- Referrirrg to Figurethe tobacco'rod' formed in the groove i5 isremoved therefrom by theguide lates- 26 and 21' having" a slot in which the bridge-2011sdisosed. A pianview of this-structure is" shown in Figures; The rod oftobacco as it leaves the" wheel [4 maintained as area by the an r the bet .5; as t is extended frdih right to left in F gur 3' beyond the Wh l sas to'enable the rod tob'e enveloped by the paper 24", passing over theroller 25. The moving belts 5 and 22 then coact to thrust the rod andpaper irrtothe former 22a. The rod; enveloped by the paper is conveyedby th'e'bjelt '22 passing over the ro11'er2'3j,tbthekniie (not-sh w is tansp i on of t e r d o" the former, as the" rod emerges from the wheel;has given convsiclerable' trouble in the practical working of rod f rmng machines utilizing wheels and'be t lsr Toenableready'accessto be hadto'thebridgez 0, the" belt extension from ther'oller 36to'the roller [6is made seas tor-e"; capable ofbem iliitediand piit' out'of the way;,FQrthlSfPu iPbSe', in t e; bOdi-menlf' shown; the shaft or the iblier;in addition to acting as a shaft for the roller, acts to pivotallysupport; two parallel bars 3| and 32, which in turn support the ends ofthe shaft 38 of the roller I8. Transversely to the free ends of the bars3| and 32, and forming a closed frame therein, is a scraper device 28,and a deflecting extension 39. When it is desired to examine the bridge20, the frame formed of the bars 3| and 32 and cross bar 33, withdeflector 39, is moved on the pivot shaft 35, and raised to the positionshown in dotted lines in Figure 3. Thereby access is had to the tobaccorod a, while being enveloped by the paper 24, to the former 22a, to thebridge 20, and to the surfaces 26 and 21, and to the wheel M with itsgroove I5. By thus turning the roller l6 up and rearward, the belt 5becomes slackened, and for the purpose of taking up this slack, theroller 1 is made movable, as

seen in Figure 1. The shaft of this roller I is journalled in a movablesupport or slide 8. Upon this support 8 are fish plates 9, between whichand the plates H springs in are arranged, which pull the plates 9constantly in the direction of the arrow there shown, the plates Hbeing'firmly fixed in the groove plate 6, (Figure 2) The slide 8 is heldand guided by two guide pins l2 having heads, which pins are attached tothe floor of the plate 6, and which project into a set-off andcorrespondingly long slot l3 of the slide. The extreme left positionreached by the tension roller 1 is indicated by broken lines (Fig. 1).Thus, when the roller [6 is moved up and back, and provides a slack inthe belt, this slack is taken up by the movement of the roller 1' fromfull line position to dotted line position in Figure 1; and when theroller I8 is moved from dotted line position, as shown in Figure l, tofull line position, the roller 1 takes the full line position. The beltportions which traverse the groove 6 and which contact with the wheell4, remain unaffected, the other portions of the belt adjustingthemselves over rollers l1, l8 and I9.

In continuation of the groove Hi there is formed, in the region of thebridge 28, a channel whose floor consists of the bridge and which hasthe width of the groove, as is apparent from Figure 4. The bridge 28 hasan extension 2|.

The surfaces 26 and 21 have together a width equal to the width of thewheel M, as seen in Figure 4, and at their rod discharge ends areinclined upwardly, to the position where an adjustable scraper 28 restsagainst the belt 5 passing over the roller l6. Thereby the inner edgesof the channel walls 26 and 2! move apart, so that there results awidening to the lines 29 and 30, as seen in Figures 4 and 6. At the sametime, the edges are rounded off in the region of these lines. With agradual widening of the channel along the lines 29 and 38 the contact ofthe channel edges with the belt 5 running on the roller It occurs atpoints which are continuously changing, a fact which contributesmaterially to the preservation of the belt. The scraper 28 is in thisconnection constructed .as wide as the unfolding of the edges of thechannel permits, and in consequence there'- of the scraper sweeps notonly that portion of the belt which is situated in the region of thechannel groove, which corresponds in its dimensions to the wheel l5, butalso those portions of the belt which are situated to the sides thereof,so that any particles of tobacco which may possibly still adhere thereare removed by the scraper.

The two side walls 3| and 32 have at their for ward end a transversestrip 33, to which the scraper 28 'is displaceably attached by means ofscrews 34, and to which the cap 38 is attached by means of screw-s 40.The shaft 35 is firmly supported in the machine frame. The side walls 3|and 32, which together with the transverse strip 33 form a swingingframe, have their lower ends resting on the machine frame 31 and therebylimit the swinging of these walls downward (Figure 5). The arrangementis made in such a way that the center of the axis of rotation 38 of thereversal roller [6, when the latter occupies the operating position inaccordance with Figure 3, is situated lower than the center of the shaft35. By this toggle joint action, the roller [5 is normally held in downor operative position.

The swinging frame may be lifted to the inoperative position indicatedin Figures 1 and 3 in broken lines by any suitable means The swingingframe is automatically held fast in the operating position by thetension of the belt, when the axis of roller I6 is below that of theroller 36.

It has been seen that the belt 5 has been arranged to extend forward atthe point of the removal of the tobacco rod, 1. e., in the region of theupper vertex of the wheel [4, and provided with a guide roller I6, tosuch an extent away from the bridge 28, this being a critical pointwhich requires constant supervision and which must therefore above allthings be readily accessible.

Now in order that, when the roller carrier walls 3| and 32 are swung outof the operating position, the belt 5, whose length of path is therebyshortened, shall not become slack, the arrangement has been made, thatthe guide roller 1 at the other end of the endless conveyor belt 5 isdisplaceably mounted on the machine frame. The displacement of theroller 1 is accomplished as above disclosed by means of the springs I8together with the slidable mounting plate 8 to which the shaft of roller1 is journalled.

In this manner a compensation takes place, which, however, extends onlyto that portion of the belt 5 which serves for belt return from theupper terminal guide roller 16 to the lower terminal guide roller 1,while the belt portion situated in the tobacco feed groove and also thebelt portion placed around the upper terminal guide roller l5 are nottouched by this compensation.

Also, a scraper 28 is provided which acts against the belt 5 situated onthe roller It to remove the particles of tobacco which may possibly havebeen carried along by the belt 5, and which is constructed broader thanthe tobacco rod groove 15, so that it can also remove particles oftobacco sidewise of the belt portion which covers the groove.

Furthermore, it has been seen that in the region of the bridge, and asfar as the junction with the shaper conveyor belt, a channel has beenprovided, the floor of which is formed by the bridge 20. At the pointwhere the belt is led back over the roller carried by the swingingframe, the side walls of this channel, the surfaces 26 and 2!hereinabove set forth, are extended upward as far as the scraper. Inaccordance with the invention, however, these side surfaces, at thereversal point of the belt, commencing from the width of the channel,are gradually widened outward and are here rounded off, in whichconnection the widening is greater than the aforesaid width of thescraper. In this way the result is attained that the particles oftobacco, which are removed from the belt by means of the scraper over agreater width than that of the groove, are conducted from the widenedside walls to the exposed tobacco rod, and furthermore, that at thepoint of reversal the belt is not subjected to rapid wear, as would bethe case if the wall of the channel were continuously drawn upward inthe width of the channel, in which case a friction would always takeplace on the belt in two concentric lines, whereas in this arrangementthe drawn-apart channel boundary comes in contact with ever new beltportions.

I have described several embodiments of my invention, butit will beclear that changesmay be made within the principles of the inventiondescribed, without departing from the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine of the character described comalong the upper bight of saidbelt, said guide members having upturned end portions with divergentinner walls, means for permitting movement of said upper bight away fromthe bridge to expose the latter, said outward movement occasioning slackin the outer run of the belt, means for automatically taking up theslack in the outer run of the belt occasioned by such outward movementof the upper bight and preventing such slack from being appreciablytransferred to said inner run and a scraper blade adjacent said upperbight, cooperating with said belt at a point above said outwardlydivergent inner walls of the guide members for removing adherent tobaccoparticles from the belt.

2. In a machine of the character described, a grooved wheel rotatable ina vertical plane, for forming a tobacco rod, a belt having'an inner runextending about a portion of the periphery of said wheel to compress thetobacco rod, said belt having also a return run forming upper and lowerbights, a roller at the upper bight of said belt, a bridge disposedbelow the inner run of g

